November 16, 2009 • Vol. 15, No. 9 Download Now! (pdf)

 

EDITORIAL
The Future Is Bright
by Fred Barnes

SCRAPBOOK
Pelosi's Victory, and Other Election News

ARTICLES
Painting Virginia Red
by Jennifer Rubin

Barack Obama's Leading Indicator
by Jules Crittenden

Next, Locusts?
by Elliott Abrams

Dictatorships and Double Standards
by Stephen F. Hayes

The Swedish Way
by Mark P. Lagon

FEATURES
As We Stand Down, Can They Stand Up?
by Max Boot

France on the Hudson
by Fred Siegel and Harry Siegel

The Palin Persuasion
by Matthew Continetti

BOOKS & ARTS
The Ayn and Only
by Katherine Mangu-Ward

Closing Time
by Martin Morse Wooster

Paint By Numbers
by Martha Bayles

Ghost Patrol
by Andrew Nagorski

Unthriller
by John Podhoretz

CASUAL
Keep Hope Alive
by Victorino Matus

PARODY
Headlines amid GOP victories


« Tears on the Left's Pillow | Main | House Race Snapshot--Bonus Material Update »

Obama Campaign Rethinks Iran Again

Some very disturbing answers:

In an interview with the Financial Times, Anthony Lake, a former US national security adviser who has worked with Mr Obama since the start of his campaign, also urged the US to learn lessons from its traumatic withdrawal from Vietnam regarding pulling out of Iraq. “The most dangerous crisis we are going to face potentially in the next three to 10 years is if the Iranians get on the edge of developing a nuclear weapon,” he said. “If I were the Europeans I would much rather put on the table more sanctions, together with bigger carrots, and have that negotiation than I would face that crisis down the road.”

Mr Obama and his advisers stress the Democratic candidate’s readiness to sit down with Iranian leaders without ­conditions. “Unless you assume that [Iranian negotiators] have IQs less than those of eggplants, they are not likely to make major concessions for the privilege of speaking with us. So the question is: what is your strategy for the talks?” Mr Lake said. “Do you believe that simply sanctioning them can drive them into concessions before you talk, or do you believe that you need to have the sanctions there as a stick at the heart of negotiations?”

So we learn Obama is once again in favor of meeting with Iran without preconditions and that one of his top advisers doesn't think Iran is on the verge of obtaining nuclear weapons. We also learn that Lake doesn't seem to know that diplomats have been promising Iran more and more carrots over the last five years just to negotiate. There has only been one precondition: Iran had to suspend its uranium enrichment for the duration of talks. Can the Obama campaign cite some critical carrot, unknown to the world, that would persuade Iran to negotiate? Can it explain what effect sanctions could possibly have at this point given how little time they have to work?

Email the article Obama Campaign Rethinks Iran Again to a friend:

Send this article to:


Your email address:


Message (optional):


 
Contributors
Editor (on leave):
Michael Goldfarb

Deputy Editors:
John McCormack
Samantha Sault

Contributors:
Dean Barnett
Jennifer Chou
Brian Faughnan
Ulf Gartzke
Reuben F. Johnson
Thomas Joscelyn
Stuart Koehl
John Noonan
Bill Roggio
Jaime Sneider
Search
Archives
Contact
wws@weeklystandard.com
Categories
Feeds: Atom | RSS
[What is this?]
Powered by
Movable Type 3.2